Storming Crab Rockford IL — Restaurant in Rockford Township

August 7, 2022 It’s been a year or better, since my first visit to Storming Crab. While I do not eat sea food (lobster, crab, oysters etc.), my visit to a “sea food” restaurant is restricted to cod or salmon. My first visit to SC was for a friend’s birthday. She enjoyed her meal and I liked my entre. I believe my meal was salmon. My friend and I enjoyed our meal and decided to visit SC sometime in the future.

For my friend’s recent birthday, she wanted to return to SC. The difference between our first visit and this second visit was strikingly different. Since our server just started two weeks earlier, I naturally shall be lenient, concerning the service.

The menus seem to have changed, since my friend and I could not locate the items we had 1+ yrs. ago. Nevertheless, we did order something that looked somewhat familiar.

Our appetizer ($9.99) consisted of a hand full of hush puppies 6 tiny onion rings and a small plastic container of ketchup. This was an omen of what was coming.

Our mean finally arrived with a wadded buddle of artifacts. We were assured that this bundle contained everything we needed and the server left. That bundle contained an assortment of tools for eating crab, lobster, 2 plastic gloves and plastic bib. Unfortunately, my friend ordered Scallops and I had the Fried Cod and Fries. Not being adroit at eating seafood, I told the waitress that we would find a couple of metal forks useful in eating this food. By the time the server returned with 2 forks, I noticed we didn’t have a knife to cut the Scallops in half and turn my Fried Cod into manageable bite sized pieces. We were informed that metal knifes are items they don’t have but we could get a plastic knife. Apparently management is adverse to customers armed with metal butter knives with a serrated edge.

As far as the food goes… My friend found the Scallops underwhelming. Turning to my battered Cod, I assume there was some actual cod under the pile of fried batter. If I ever get in the mood to eat some fried batter, I know where to go.

Now it’s time to receive the bill and I casually mentioned the 10% discount for senior citizens. The server had no idea what I was referring to. I told her that I called earlier (11:57 am) and talked to some guy and asked if there was a senior discount. – [Many places offer such a discount, but do not aggressively advertise that perk.] This SC employee said they do have a 10% discount for senior citizens. Either he didn’t know what he was talking about, or the policy changed in the 4 hours and 31 minutes since he talked to me. In any event, our server checked and said the only discount is for veterans. Rather than continue this discussion I handed my server $60 for a $43.46 bill. Although my change should have been $16.54, the server returns with $16.25—29¢ less. The server said they (the register) didn’t have any more quarters!! Believe me; I realize that 29¢ is insignificant. However, if you are in business where money is exchanged, it seems that having sufficient money to make accurate change would be a personal requirement by management!

One other item that SC and other restaurants do is provide “Tips Suggestion.” On my bill ($39.95 plus $3.50 tax =$43.46), the “suggested tip” for 18% would be $7.83 20% would be $8.69 23% would be $10.00 The math for this “suggested tips” is not calculated based upon the price of the food, it is calculated based upon the cost of the food AND tax. Perhaps I am wrong, but I tip according the total price of the food BEFORE tax.

Due to the length of this review, I can’t say, “To make a long story short…” Suffice it to say my friend and I will not return to STORMING CRAB 6779 E. State St.,...

We went tonight for my brothers birthday (we didn’t inform them that it was his birthday because he’s embarrassed and didn’t want a show) but we got there around 7:45 Saturday night- expected it to be busy but with the snow ❄️ And annoying construction 🚧 I’m sure that was a factor. ( we tried previously in the summer to come eat and it was beyond packed and didn’t end up going) - We parked in front and walked in. Upon entering there was a sign stating they were understaffed and to wear a mask respectfully when your not at your table. Understood. Waited about 8 minutes and got a table. The staff was very VERY nice, everyone said hello and all that.. the waitress was very sweet, we got our cheesy lobster bread and it was great! We ordered a shrimp cocktail- a order of fried shrimp , 3 orders of the 50$ #6 meals (crab legs, shrimp , sausage & corn) …. The sausage was very disappointing (very cheap and undercooked) almost reminded me of turkey bacon…. The shrimp was good and so were the crab legs… but all together the sausage I didn’t care for and neither did everyone else. We ordered a sample platter for a appetizer (didn’t mention that earlier ) the fish sticks reminded me of Aldis … and hush puppies were very very generic. But all in all the crab legs and shrimp were good… the generic fish sticks and sausage we didn’t care for. Service was great and the waitress always kept coming over and making sure we didn’t need anything. Would recommend definitely - but needs some fixing up on a few things. Glad we came and would ...

I recently tried this restaurant for the first time after enjoying a similar dining experience in Chicago a few weeks prior. With that great experience in mind, I was eager to see how this place compared. I ordered my food for pickup with a requested pickup time of 5:30 p.m. (which was over an hour after I placed the order). When I called in, I asked about the size of the coleslaw, and the lady on the phone assured me it would be enough for two people to share. Based on that, I ordered two coleslaws.

I ordered a variety of seafood: two lobster tails, a pound of shrimp, a pound of snow crab, and 12 scallops. Unfortunately, the food wasn't ready until closer to 5:50 p.m. My husband picked it up and they gave us an extra coleslaw as an apology for the wait. However, I was disappointed to find that the two orders of coleslaw were only 5 oz containers each, which was far too small for two people to share.

As for the seafood, the lobster tails, shrimp, and scallops were cooked well, but the flavor was lacking. I had chosen the buttery garlic sauce, but the garlic flavor was barely noticeable. Additionally, the snow crab was a letdown—it didn’t seem like a full pound and meat was a bit gooey, and the overall taste of the seafood was missing that rich, buttery garlic flavor you’d expect from this type of meal.

Overall, the meal didn't live up to expectations. The cooking was fine, but the flavor and portion sizes were not as promised. I hope they can improve on the seasoning and be more accurate with their portions...